Get the Most Out of Latest Activity

The Latest Activity feature is a gauge of how active your Ning Network is, and is a great way for all Ning Networks, even those just getting off the ground, to highlight what’s new and motivate members to participate. Here’s how to get the most out of it.

Choose which categories of events appear on your Latest Activity feature. In general, we recommend showing all the different kinds of activity in the Latest Activity feature, especially as your Ning Network is just getting off the ground. A lot of variety shows that your Ning Network really is a happening place, and encourages people to click around and explore even more. That said, each Ning Network is unique, so you may want to customize which types of events appear in the Latest Activity feature on your Ning Network.

For example, let’s say you’ve decided that while profile comments are a great way for members to communicate, they don’t fit in with the rest of the content on your Ning Network’s Main Page. Or maybe you think new friendships appearing in the Latest Activity feature is confusing for members. You can easily stop either of these kinds of activity from appearing in the Latest Activity feature on the Main Page of your Ning Network.

Add facts about your Ning Network. These messages will be published straight to the Latest Activity feature on the Main Page of your Ning Network, alongside all of the other things people are doing on your Ning Network.

If you’d like to add a fact to your Ning Network’s Latest Activity, you can choose from the built-in trivia generated by your Ning Network. These include things like how many videos have been uploaded, who has posted the most photos, or what the most popular discussion is to date.

Adding facts about your Ning Network is an effective way to highlight a particular feature or member. For example, if you post a fact that there are 1200 videos on your Ning Network, the message will link to the Videos feature.

Post your own customized announcements. These messages will be published straight to the Latest Activity feature on the Main Page of your Ning Network, alongside all of the other things people are doing on your Ning Network. While a broadcast message is a great way to spread important news, adding your own message to the Latest Activity feature is like leaving a short, quick reminder or announcement for all members to see. Your announcement can be up to 140 characters long, and can even include HTML.